The
little touches are what make Disney’s team of Imagineers world famous.
They understand that the key to the Disney theme park empire is
constantly emphasizing the differences between rides and attractions.
Some places offer Gigacoasters and g-forces to thrill theme park
tourists, and that’s great when you’re in the mood for it. When you
visit Walt Disney World, however, you want to celebrate iconic
characters through attractions that embrace all the accompanying aspects
of their stories.

Disney makes movies, and then their parks reimagine those ideas into
heart-warming renditions of the same concept. In order to accomplish
this, Imagineers constantly work to discover new ideas to keep Disney’s
iconic characters fresh and original. Their four Orlando parks in
particular exemplify the mastery of theme park design. Here are the
seven rides with the best special effects at Walt Disney World.

7. Peter Pan’s Flight

Again, the noteworthy aspect of this ride, at least with regard to
special effects, occurs at the start. In early 2015, Disney added a new
interior line queue featuring the Darling house’s nursery. This colorful
sequence includes several children’s rooms in one larger room that is
the line queue itself. In this area, guests can interact with Peter Pan
and Tinkerbell in amazing ways.

For starters, Tinkerbell’s magic is pervasive throughout the room.
The wall projections cause several elements to react on a timer,
creating the effect of Tinkerbell ensorcelling a boat to rock, a trunk
to unlock, and the walls to glow festively. The showstopper involves a
wall where your shadows can “touch” bells to make them ring. You can
also make motions to chase characters away. You can even swat at
butterflies or pet them, depending on your mood during your wait in
line. Don’t forget to free Tinkerbell from her cage before you exit the
area, though. You can watch this video to see how much Imagineers have added to Peter Pan’s Flight by enhancing the (always long) line queue.

6. Toy Story Midway Mania

I’ve previously discussed this ride in detail.
The Toy Story attraction at Hollywood Studios employs 3D (Disney refers
to it as 4D) to create the rootinest, tootinest carnival experience at
any major theme park. The ride gets whipped along a path where screens
display interactive shooting galleries. There are no physical
projectiles employed yet you’ll feel like you’re firing the world’s
smallest cannon at hundreds of plates, balloons, and other carnie
staples. There’s even a ring toss segment.

People get so swept up in the competitive element of Midway Mania!
that they forget the stunning achievement of the ride design. Disney
Imagineers transform ordinary walls into thrilling mini-games. Thanks to
the 3D goggles, riders completely suspend reality as they slide down
the moving path. The entire design scheme of the Toy Story attraction is
a special effect, and it’s one of the most immersive ever created for a
theme park. Toy Story Midway Mania! marries three things that children
(of all ages) love: videogames, Disney characters, and amusement park
rides. It does all of this so effectively that you might start to take
it for granted after a while. That’s the best special effect of all.

5. Turtle Talk with Crush and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (Tie)

Generally speaking, these are not titles you would expect on a Best
of Walt Disney World list. Sure, they’re charming, but the fact that
there is rarely a line for either one speaks to their overall
perception. Don’t let be fooled about the underlying technology, though.

A behind-the-scenes moderator creates a responsive conversation with
various members of the audience. Popular Pixar characters from Finding
Nemo and Monsters, Inc. are the puppets through which Disney cast
members crack up the crowd. While the broad strokes of each show are
similar, the improvisational aspect guarantees a unique show each time.
And if you ever watch a child’s face as Crush asks them for their name,
you’ll understand why Disney was so proud of this technology.

3. Haunted Mansion

I previously wrote an opus on Haunted Mansion,
the Disneyland version that explains why it’s so marvelous. The gist is
that Disney Imagineers had a decade to consider all the elements of one
of their signature attractions. Over time, they realized that the
parlor tricks used for other types of movie-making lend themselves
perfectly to a Doombuggy ride. Disney can control the approach velocity
of the guest, and that enables them to craft ghastly special effects at a
specific time and location. That’s how they’re able to include over a
hundred amazing effects in seven and a half minutes.

Deciding which one is the best is like picking your favorite child.
Still, most people would agree that the show-stopper happens at the end.
Historically, that’s when Disney employed two-way mirrors to send some
hitchhiking ghosts off with you. Now, motion-capture technology allows
Disney to steal your face and play malicious tricks with it right before
you depart. It’s a real crowd-pleaser and a wonderful way to send
guests off with a smile.

2. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

The latest ride at Magic Kingdom debuted in the summer of 2014, and
it offers Disney touches from beginning until the very end. After the
train comes to a virtual stop, there’s a house that features stunningly
realistic audio-animatronics of dancing dwarfs. The most impressive part
is that they’re recycled from a past version of the ride, yet Disney
has somehow made them seem state-of-the-art thanks to some clever tricks
of the trade.

The ending is not what differentiates this ride, though. It’s the
start. Disney’s Imagineers have always paid special attention to the
ride queues for their attractions. They understand that park guests,
especially ones with small children, need entertainment while standing
in line. A couple of the nominees on this list qualify for this reason.
The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train stands out due to its obvious game as well
as its hidden one.

The obvious game is the Bejeweled knockoff that people can play while
waiting outside. It’s a simplistic tile-matching game, and that’s
understandable since first-time riders must be able to grasp the rules
in a matter of seconds.

There are also a series of seven barrels in the interior portion of
the line queue. People can spin these barrels to make a Dwarf appear on
the ceiling above. It’s not that hard to do one, but the trick occurs if
you can find enough other people to trigger all seven barrels. Then, an
Easter egg appears on the ceiling. Snow White displays in the middle of
the Seven Dwarfs. It’s a tremendous amount of fun trying to persuade
complete strangers to participate, and the holographic projections are
terrific.

Of course, the other fabulous special effect on this ride involves
its state-of-the-art audio-animatronics. These are the newest ones at
Walt Disney World, and their photorealism is breathtaking. Imagineers
rewatched the classic film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in order to
capture every possible facial expression of the dwarfs. Disney's stated
goal is for these characters to seem like they just jumped off the movie
screen directly onto the attraction. The ride also gets bonus points
for the spectacular use of shadows to make it feel like the dwarfs are
all around you as you ride the Mine Train itself.

1. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

A little goes a long way sometimes. In the case of the Twilight Zone
attraction, Disney masterfully crafted an entire abyss in a single
building. This purgatory features five people who rode an elevator
straight to their deaths. Like the best Disney rides, every element of
Twilight Zone has a purpose. The cast members wear bellhop uniforms, the
elevator shafts have their own horror stories,
and the tormented quintet that permanently resides in the building
appears at the scariest possible moment to warn or possibly taunt you.

Tower of Terror emphasizes the danger as often as possible. Once you
board the ride and head down the path, the prior victims appear in front
of you, welcoming you to the club. A lightning bolt signals that the
tower is ready to deliver its terror. And then you plunge to the
depths…or possibly get thrust in the air. There’s a joyous randomness to
the ride.

When done well, a special effect feels like a part of the story that
is necessary but not overt. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror builds an
entire world via a few well-considered special effects. At its core,
this ride is the same as the standard zero-G drop that every amusement
park on the planet offers. It stands apart as one of the greatest Walt
Disney World attractions due to its special effects. That’s why I
consider it the best of many wonderful special effects at the world’s
most popular theme park.